Anyone else running after market hoses on XT M785 brakes?

I've just bought a pair of M785 brakes and have fitted some Superstar hoses but no matter what I do, the brakes are mushy.

All the fixings are tight and no air comes out when I bleed them. I am a bit puzzled and was wondering if anyone has had similar issues or any ideas what might be causing it.

I am wondering if it is to do with the banjo bolt not going into the caliper far enough now there is a pair of copper washers either side of the banjo. If this is likely to cause issues, I assume a Goodridge kit will suffer the same unless it comes with an extra long banjo / caliper bolt.

Hold the hoses between thumb and finger with one hand, pump the brake (hard) with the other - can you feel the hoses expand slightly? Some hoses are not reinforced properly, had the with some jagwire hyflow hoses. Buy Goodrich or standard, I think the shimano hoses on the newer brakes have narrower internal diameter though so best to stick with them if wishing to avoid issues.

Also worth remembering that they have quite a low leverage ratio (this is where a lot of their power comes from), which causes a long/soft lever feel.Try levelling the front lever, fit the bleed bucket and top it up, tilt the bike slightly to the left so any air bubbles have an upward only route, and flick the lever for a few minutes, any air should come up through the bucket, the lever will then feel as good as it's going to get, which you can then compare the rear with(and remember, the air will only travel upwards, so this won't work if you have humps and high spots in the hose).

The hose isn't expanding - I'm convinced its because the banjo / caliper bolt isn't going in far enough because of the brass washers. I'm going to try and stick the stock hoses on and see what happens.

I only use after market hoses to colour code (goes and hides....). If they bleed up OK with the stock hoses, then I'll buy a Goodridge kit because they use o rings, so will hopefully kit better.

Ive forced a lot of fluid through them with the bleed kit and no bubbles come out.

What I did notice is that when forcing fluid through from the caliper end is that a lot escaped from under the master cylinder cap rather than go into the other syringe. Not sure if this points to a bad set.

Also undid the bleed screw and flicked the lever and a fair amount of air came out. No more is coming out now though...I spent 15 minutes pulling and releasing the lever and no more air came out. Lever action still feels a bit poo though.

I run 785's with braided Goodridge hoses and all the factory fittings, they're mega firm now but took a bit of fettling to get them right initially as the instructions you get with them are absolutely shite. Buy well, buy once. Consider Goodridge stuff to be the cat's pyjamas

I never ended up fitting Goodridge hoses because the colour I wanted was out of stock at the time. What connection do you have at the calliper end? If it is a banjo, you should be able to swap it over but you will need to use the calliper bolt that comes standard with the 785 brakes because its really long.

I never ended up fitting Goodridge hoses because the colour I wanted was out of stock at the time. What connection do you have at the calliper end? If it is a banjo, you should be able to swap it over but you will need to use the calliper bolt that comes standard with the 785 brakes because its really long.

Pretty sure I used kit 104..

At the calliper end I have the m8 connector,
So all I would need to get is the Goodridge banjo's? as I need to reuse the shimano bolt, I assume I can reuse the O-rings/washers?